Midland, Ontario 2nd stay

The first thing we did on Thursday, August 16 was to try out our new dinghy by taking it for a spin around this pretty anchorage.  The dinghy is great and Jonny is one happy guy!

His happiness was shattered a few minutes later when Zendo’s engine wouldn’t start as we were ready to leave!  It turned over once and then died.  Even with all the work that was done with the fuel leak the day before which we thought had corrected the problem!  Jonny proceeded to bleed the engine again and we tried starting it several times.  No luck.  He called the mechanic from the day before and they tried a few more things.  Nothing. The owner of the marina was looking at options including who might be able to tow us all the way back to Midland, if necessary.  Jonny called Sea Tow to see if they could be used given the fact that we were in Canada and not the U.S.  He also talked to a local tow guy who talked him through a different procedure using the lift pump to bleed the engine. It worked! But because the cause of the problem had not been determined, we weren’t confident about continuing our journey and decided to go back to Bay Port Marina in Midland where there were sufficient resources and a very helpful marina manager. 

Finally at 12:30 we raised the anchor and took off for the four hour trip back to Midland.  We traveled on the outside route.  Though not as scenic, we made slightly better time and as the Sea Tow guy told us, we would be more easily accessible to them should anything happen along the way! Thankfully, we had smooth sailing on a nice, though somewhat cloudy day. We returned to the same dock slip and shortly after we settled in, it started to pour rain.  We had arrived just in time!

Jonny decided to cap the vacuum guage line that he had disconnected a few days earlier thinking that doing so might get to the root of the problem.  In the meantime, he had been noticing that our new refrigerator was not working properly so he contacted a refrigeration mechanic to come by the next  morning to see if he could fix it. We stayed in that night, a little discouraged but hopeful that we could leave the next day.

The next day was also our 32nd wedding anniversary!  We spent the bulk of it on boat chores and of course hosting the refrigerator mechanic.  He was successful in his efforts.  Apparently, our new appliance was from a bad year and the company that made it provides new parts to correct the problem.  Unfortunately, the dealer we bought it from did a funky job installing it and didn’t follow the proper procedures that would have corrected the problem from the start. 

Lynn kept busy cleaning Zendo including all the interior woodwork and wood floors since the carpet was rolled up to be able to access the engine room. After the repairs were completed, Jonny tried the engine twice and it started which was a good sign, but we wanted to have a full overnight as our problems had occurred when the boat sits overnight.  Jonny went to get a haircut and we caught up with Stephanie by phone.  We had a lovely anniversary dinner at the Explorer’s Cafe’ where we had eaten the week before.

Walking back to the marina we saw the tail end of the annual tugboat parade which reminded us of the Christmas boat parades in Florida.

We were ready to take off on Saturday, August 18 but when Jonny started the engine it died after 30 seconds and wouldn’t start again.  A mechanic came by at 8 a.m. It turned out the vacuum gauge wasn’t the issue. They bled the engine, tried starting it a couple of times and the mechanic, after listening very carefully to the engine sounds, determined that the problem was not air in the engine.  He diagnosed it as a poor connection to the injector pump solenoid.  He replaced it with a $2 part and it started right up!  We asked him to come back at 4:30 to check again.  

In the meantime, we went for a lovely bike ride along a wooded path that lined the coast from one end of town to the other. 

From there we went into Midland where a cool tugboat festival was taking place.

This little guy was Lynn’s favorite!

There were all kinds of exhibits including some interesting wildlife creatures. 

We treated ourselves to ice cream cones, bought the local butter tarts and stopped for coffee at Jonny’s favorite coffee shop (he actually had one after nine days here)!

When the mechanic returned at 4:30, thankfully, the engine started right up.  But the real proof would be whether it would start the next morning. So Lynn made dinner - chicken a la Nonna and the homemade pasta we had frozen from the Italian market in Montreal along with purple (!) green beans from the Midland farmer’s market (that turned green upon cooking).   Delicious and lots of leftovers!  We entertained ourselves that evening by watching two episodes of the excellent British series, Dancing on the Edge, that Andy had lent us for the trip.  We are ready to move on from Midland and its murals, nice town that it is!